To See the Forest For the Trees
by baneismydragon
Summary: A Sequel Option 1 to "To See You Smile" Between being a superhero, dealing with insane classmates, a partner who seems to know far too much, and an unrequited crush that suddenly seems a bit less unrequited, Marinette still must struggle to see that sometimes the best things are hiding in plain sight.
1. Chapter 1

I highly recommend you read "To see you smile" first if you haven't already as this story is set immediately after that one and there are a few hints in there that will be kinda important to where the characters are at.

Marinette was not in a good mood.

It should have been an average Friday at school. In fact by all logical accounts it should have actually been a pretty good day for the teenaged superhero. Papillion had been surprisingly quiet for the past week, her teachers had managed to assign a reasonable amount of homework for once, and she had a meeting tomorrow with Master Fu so on Monday she could finally relieve her guilty conscience and return that book to Adrien.

Yet in spite of all the positive things that were going on, she found herself seething as she packed up her belongings at the end of the school day.

It had started on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for Marinette, although she had managed to vanquish the imposter Volpina the day before, her civilian counterpart was very much still a part of the class and just as determined to stir up trouble.

Adrien, seemingly incapable of being anything less than perfect much to Marinette's dismay, had decided not to hold Lila's bragging or lies against her and in fact had gone out of his way to be nice to the girl as the rumors about her impressive (and very public) akumatization circled throughout the school. According to Alya, who of course had gotten the inside scoop from Nino, Adrien was worried that between her humiliation and her position as the new girl that Lila would get turned into an outcast if someone didn't step up as a friend. Predictably, this good will gesture had only increased Lila's infatuation with the blonde model, and Marinette soon discovered that wherever Adrien could be found, the pretty Italian girl would never be more than a few steps behind.

Anxious to insert herself into everything that was 'Adrien approved' Lila had quickly attached herself onto his closest friends- namely, Nino, Alya, and by extension Marinette herself. While Lila had been striving to tone down her obvious dislike of Ladybug around the group, it was still a clear point of contention between her and Alya. Which left Marinette in the extremely uncomfortable position of being thrust into the role of Lila's new favorite friend. For the last 4 days Marinette had been all but dragged around throughout the course of the school day by the transfer student, who was desperately trying to include herself as much as possible into Adrien's life and social activities, and had decided that Marinette's presence along side her would somehow make her stalking more palatable.

Marinette might have laughed at the irony of the whole situation if the girl weren't so incredibly infuriating.

She tried to take comfort in the fact that Adrien seemed to be just as unreceptive to Lila's less than subtle advances as he was to all of the other girls she had seen chase after him over the course of the year they had been together in class. But even her crushes blissful lack of interest in Marinette's new escort was small comfort in light of the inconvenience of dealing with this recent development.

By Thursday evening Marinette had already been at her wits end with trying to hold in her irritation at both Lila's determined flirting and her continuing jabs at Marinette's own alter ego whenever Adrien and Alya were out of earshot. After all what could she really do about it as Marinette without possibly exposing herself as ladybug, or worse exposing her own feelings for Adrien?

Patrolling with Chat had been a welcome relief and she had found herself relaxed and happy for the first time in days, enjoying the warmth and comfort her partner constantly bestowed on her. His unguarded honesty had come as a pleasant surprise and she had gone home feeling content. His antics and flirtations had been amusing and flattering, even if his parting comments had been peculiar even for her silly kitten.

Unfortunately the aftermath of her time with the leather clad teenager had only managed to add a new complication to her already frayed nerves.

Marinette had gotten used to waking up from dreams of running her fingers through soft blonde locks while she lost herself in glittering green eyes between desperate heated kisses. But she found herself stifling a scream when she bolted out of bed at 5am this morning frantically repressing the lingering image of a wide self-satisfied grin and a breathless 'My Lady'.

Even with a full day of school looming, Marinette had opted for a long cold shower and an extra large cup of coffee rather than risk going back to sleep with her subconscious in such a clearly unstable state.

Things had not improved from there.

Day four of Lila's clingy attentions had been amplified by the fact that Adrien, sweet perfect Adrien, the only boy who should be making any appearances in her late night romantic fantasies, had been waiting for _her_ when she arrived at school. Apparently Ultimate Mecha Strike 4 had been released last week and he wanted to see about getting a group together over the weekend to try it out and wanted to see what a good time for his 'partner' would be. It should have been a perfect moment and Marinette could feel her teeth clench at the memory.

"I have something on Saturday afternoon but I should be free in the evening wherever you want- I mean whenever you want me- I MEAN- I totally want you- WANT TO! I totally want to play with you! GAMES! I MEAN GAMES!"

Somehow Adrien had managed to not flee in terror at her horrifying babbling, instead gazing down on her with an indulgent smile. "Great! After all I still haven't had a chance to try that lucky charm you gave me." His gaze flickered down to his bag and Marinette's eyes widened when she recognized the bracelet looped around the strap. He had kept it! She felt her cheeks flush with pleasure and she beamed up at Adrien.

"I can't believe you…" Marinette was cut off by a loud squeal.

"MARI! There you are! Oh and Adrien, isn't this just perfect all my favorite people right in one place." Lila half tackled Marinette her eyes locked on the boy in front of her, a sly smile plastered across her face.

"So what are you telling my darling Marinette that has her looking so enthralled Carino?" Lila cooed linking her arm through Marinette's and sidling closer to her prey.

Adrien nonchalantly side stepped away from her but didn't drop his smile. Instead he placed his arm lightly around Marinette shoulder. "Marinette here is a championship gamer, so I wanted her imput on a small gaming party I am hoping to put together this weekend." He looked down at Marinette with such a look of unabashed pride that she felt her breath catch in her throat. She mentally made a note to hug her father at the next available opportunity for getting her addicted to that ridiculous game.

"Oh I love games! And of course we must be supportive of our precious Gattina" Marinette could feel her eye twitching, her smile locked into an uncomfortable grimace as she watched Lila attempt to make her some sort of joint charity project.

"Gattina?" Adrien asked, his brows furrowing adorably in confusion.

"Oh, sorry it's just a pet name we use back home. How would you say it… ah yes! Minou! Kitten. I just think would suit Mari so well." Marinette felt the blood drain from her face. Oh God no. The last thing she wanted was Lila giving her nauseating Italian nicknames. It was hard enough trying to tolerate this awkward friendship already.

Adrien however was looking back at her with an indescribable expression. His soft easygoing smile betrayed by an unholy glint in his eyes. "I guess I never really thought of that." Adrien says his voice taking on a lightly teasing tone. "What do you think Marinette? Would you consider yourself a cat person?"

"Of course she is." Lila gushed before Marinette even had a chance to draw breath. "After all Chat Noir is by far the best superhero in the city."

And thus began the complete and utter downfall of Marinette's day.

Both Alya and Chloe had managed to be in earshot for Lila's proclamation and the ensuing argument had raged for the entire rest of the afternoon. Marinette had staunchly avoided taking part in the conversation, but her resolute silence had not done much to help her composure. By the time lunch rolled around she could feel a pain in her jaw from grinding teeth as she fought to bite down replies to Lila's scathing criticisms of Ladybug _. 'If you watch the videos you can see that she uses Chat abominably! He ends up taking all the damage and she somehow walks away with all the credit'._ Added to that was the pounding headache that came from having to listen to Chloe, of all people, championing the cause that by rights belonged to Marinette. _'Ladybug is the real hero! She always saves the day no matter how undeserving these losers may be.'_

Her hopes of getting an hours respite during the lunch hour were dashed when Adrien, and subsequently Lila, Alya and Nino, suggested grabbing lunch together at her parents nearby bakery so they could enjoy the afternoon sun.

Adding insult to injury, all of the talking of the various merits of Chat Noir had filled Marinette's head with memories of her conversations with him the previous evening prompting her to grab her umbrella before the group headed back to the school grounds with their purchases.

She had caught Adrien looking pointedly at it as they walked back, and felt herself flush with shame. What had she been thinking! There hadn't been a cloud in the sky. Why did she let herself get flustered by that stupid cat and his idiotic advice?

For the second half of the school day her mind had been doubly occupied. Now on top of her already frazzled nerves over the Great Ladybug Debate, as Nino was calling it, she couldn't stop the rush of curiosity over Chat odd behavior last night. Why had he made such a point of telling her to grab an umbrella if there wasn't going to be any rain? Was he just teasing her? Or was there some sort of deeper meaning to his words that she was somehow missing.

By the time the school day ended Marinette was more than ready to be rid of everyone. She purposely spilt her school bag as she got up to leave, waving everyone off with a promise to catch up. Fortunately her absence went largely unnoticed as the crowd followed excitedly after the still heatedly arguing classmates. Once the room was empty she slumped down in her seat eyes closed and took several slow steadying breaths.

The Silence that engulfed her was an absolute blessing. She allowed her muscles to finally relax and her mind to clear. For several minutes she just sat there, a small smile of relief overtaking her features. A soft, pleasing, thrumming sound tickled its way into her consciousness and she languidly opened her eyes. She looked out the window into the rapidly darkening sky as the rain poured down.

It looked like Chat had been right about the rain after all.

Marinette sighed and cursed herself. It served her right getting worked up over nothing. She was looking forward to a nice long relaxing weekend.

She gathered up her things and headed out to the front entrance, glad that she had grabbed the umbrella after all. Even though her home was only a few blocks away the rain was picking up and she had never been fond of getting her clothes soaked though. However when she pushed open the front door she found herself frozen in her tracks.

Standing alone on the steps, staring towards her with a look of perfect contentment, was the slightly damp, and breathtakingly handsome Adrien Agreste.


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette felt her throat go dry as the school door swung shut behind her. Her senses were overwhelmed by the sound of the rain and the heat of his eyes boring into hers.

Perhaps the stress of the day had been too much for her and she had dozed off in the classroom while waiting for everyone else to leave. How else could she have managed to walk straight into one of her most commonly recurring romantic fantasies?

Everything was exactly as she remember from that fateful day that now seemed so long ago. The sky darken into a deep blue, the falling rain creating a symphony of sound as it splashed against the pavement, and a pair of beautiful green eyes looking into hers as though they could see something extra ordinary hidden in her very soul. If she was asleep this would be the point where he would rush forward, sweep her up into his arms and kiss her until she was out of breath.

"I was hoping I hadn't miss you. We still need to finish going over details for this weekend." Adrien's voice was calm and lilting, and did absolutely nothing to combat her urge to melt into a puddle at his feet.

"Oh, right! Well.. um…" focus Marinette, she cursed at herself, she saw her bracelet still looped around his bag and glued her attention onto it and away from his hypnotizing eyes. "Like I said, I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon but pretty much anything else is free. Anytime I mean, not anything." She slammed her mouth shut before she could babble anything else and was remarkably proud of her almost completely coherent sentence.

"Ok great! How about tomorrow evening then? Say 5:00?" His smile widened in hopeful anticipation.

"Yeah. I'll definitely be there." Yes! An entire sentence with no stutters!

"Great." He said again. Then his expression morphed into something she would almost describe as sly.

"Do you need me to give you the address? After all I don't think you have ever been to my place before have you?" The sneaky glint hadn't left his eyes but there was also a soft red tint across his cheeks. Marinette had no clue why he was acting so strangely but if it kept him looking that adorably cute she was happy to run with it.

"Well there are only so many Agreste Mansions in Paris, I am sure I can figure it out." Marinette flashed him a sarcastic grin then felt her eyes widen and the color rush from her cheeks. What on earth had she just said… she didn't snark at Adrien! His expression had somehow been so endearingly Chat like that the playful bantering had come instinctively.

"I suppose that's a good point." Adrien said with a smile, clearly not put off by her out of character display. "Besides you strike me as a girl who can take care of herself."

Marinette beamed at the compliment. "Thanks."

"So I was surprised you didn't have more to say on the whole ladybug debate this afternoon." Adrien said, leaning casually against a stone pillars. "I would have figured that you might have some strong opinions on the subject." He was once again sporting that soft enigmatic smile.

He was teasing her, she suddenly realized. Adrien was deliberately trying to provoke that sardonic, spirited side of her, albeit in an oddly strange and roundabout way. Well if sarcasm is what did it for Adrien then she would certainly give it her all.

"Maybe I was too busy concentrating on doing my actual work to pay attention to what they were saying." She replied. Her heart thudded when his smile widened at her flippant reply.

"It was kind of hard to miss, they weren't exactly being subtle." He pushed back.

"Well to be fair I have a lot of practice tuning out Alya's ladybug ranting. After all, there are only so many times you can debate whether or not a classmate would make a good superhero before you learn to just smile and nod."

Marinette was sure that someone else must be controlling her because there was no way she had managed to get to this moment on her own. This playful, dare she say flirtatious version of herself was somehow managing to have a real conversation with the boy of her dreams without tripping or stuttering or setting anything on fire.  
Adrien ran a hand through his hair, pushing the damp locks away from his face and grinned. "Well then, do you think I would make a good Chat Noir?"  
"Oh you're much better looking than he is." The words had left her mouth before she even realized what she had said.

Adrien's eyes widened into a look of startled shock, his mouth opening slightly as Marinette processed exactly what had just passed her lips. Oh no. Oh no no no no. Had she really just-

Adrien was laughing. His eyes furrowed shut and his mouth widened into an ecstatic smile as the musical sound burst out of his throat. Marinette's thoughts were instantly derailed from her latest humiliating blunder by his unbridled mirth.

His laughter rang out into the empty streets around them until he was gasping for breath.

Was it possible to fall in love with the same person again?

Adrien managed to get his laughter mostly under control and turned to look at her with eyes that were full of excitement and joy and something else that she couldn't quite place. It was the most exquisitely beautiful look she had ever seen. If only Alya had been around to catch it on camera, Marinette knew that she could spend the rest of her life basking in that expression.

"So, I am better looking than the famous Chat Noir?" Adrien stammered out between fading giggles.

Oh god… was this flirting? Was she actually flirting with Adrien? Was he flirting with HER? Ok she could do this. How could she do this? It's not like she spent an overabundance of time flirting with cute boys. In a fit of desperation Marinette found herself asking, 'what would Chat do?'

"Well." Marinette began, still flushed with pure adrenaline from her apparent success thus far, "Chat is cute and all I suppose, but I can't exactly see him convincing half of Paris to invest in overpriced perfume with a single smile." She channeled every memory of her partner she could summon and winked at Adrien, allowing her smile to widen into full blown smirk.

She didn't miss the flash of heat that sparked in Adrien's eyes or the soft barely noticeable blush that colored the tips of his ears. As soon as she got home Marinette was going to contact Chat and beg that wonderful cat for flirting lessons.

Adrien wrinkled his nose in an expression of disgust "Oh that stuff smelled terrible please don't remind me."

"Well maybe you should look into a career change if perfume ads are too much for you." Marinette taunted.

"Well apparently I am attractive enough to be a superhero. Perhaps I should start wearing leather."

There was a soft thud as everything that Marinette had been holding clattered to the ground.

"I am so sorry…"

"Here let me…"

Marinette found her face pressed into Adrien's chest as the both dove down to retrieve her fallen items. She let of a squeak and jumped back, allowing Adrien to gather up her things while she tried to reclaim any of her scattered composure. She was pretty sure that every ounce of bravado she had magically gained over this conversation had fled at the mental image of a leather clad Adrien.

"Well, unfortunately I need to get going." Adrien handed her back her things and gave her a soft slightly disappointed smile.

"Oh… ok." Marinette managed to force out, trying to ignore the flaming heat that she knew was manifested across her face.

"So I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Right."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, the only sound the rain that was still pouring down from a few feet away.

"So what do you think Chat Noir would do now?" Adrien asked softly, "I mean if I am going to be changing careers I should probably start practicing right?"

"Oh you've seen the videos, knowing him he would probably flirt, or make a pun, or try to kiss me." Marinette rambled not really paying attention to what she was saying as she stared into Adrien's eyes.

His smile turned into a sinful smirk that made her knees weak.

"Well in that case," He reached forward and lifted her hand to his lips. "I'll have to take a rain check. Till tomorrow My Lady."

Marinette would have been lying if she said that Chat's attentions had never affect her at all. She was a teenage girl, and he was the second most attractive person of her acquaintance. In the spirit of honesty she would have to admit that her stomach often gave a small flutter whenever his lips pressed against her gloved hand as he whispered endearments to her. But it was nothing compared to the gut clenching volcano of emotion that erupted with in her as she felt Adrien's lips press softly against her bare skin, or the electric jolt of heat at hearing Chat's famous endearment in her classmate's smooth cadence.

With a final devastating smile he turned and hurried off through the rain towards the waiting town car.

She didn't move for another 10 minutes. Content to start off in the direction that he had gone, desperately trying to catalog any excuses that she could think of to convince Adrien to do more impersonations of Chat.


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette was sulking as she made her way through the streets of Paris at quarter to 5 on Saturday afternoon, which was incredibly irritating as she should be floating on cloud 9. She was on her way to Adrien's. She was about to spend the rest of the day playing video games with Adrien. Well, Adrien and 8-12 other people in her class but that was an irrelevant detail at the moment. The point was that she should be ecstatic.

Instead she was moping over the amazing lack of information she had learned from her 2 and a half hour meeting with the supposed "Guardian" of the miraculous stones.

Master Fu had been nice enough. He had told her a little bit about the history of the miraculous stones, about how there were numerous heroes who had been guarding the world for centuries. Turned out Volpina was even a real miraculous hero, go figure. He had also explained how many years ago the butterfly miraculous had gone missing after it's owner was lost in a tragic accident. Apparently whoever the current Papillion was managed to track it down so that he could use that power to ultimately gain the abilities that came from possessing both her earrings and chats ring.

If nothing else you had to give Papillion credit, he was clearly goal oriented, and dedicated. Tracking down a lost mythical object in the hopes of then seizing control of two other objects that could THEN give him the godlike powers he needed for… well… whatever it was he was after in the first place.

That was a scary thing to think about. Papillion with godlike powers. What did he even need or want them for? World domination? Time travel? Marinette took a small savage comfort in the fact that at least he would look ridiculous wearing her earrings, seeing as one of the only things they knew about their arch enemy was that he was a disagreeable male most likely somewhere in his late 40s.

She had been hoping that the Guardian would have at least something to say to her that would lead her in the direction of her foe, since she had a sinking suspicion that the aged miraculous holder and his turtle kwami knew more than they were letting on. However, the entire conversation had basically ground to a halt when Marinette had explained how she and Tikki had come across the book. Fu and the two kwami's had exchanged a rapid conversation in what Marinette could only guess was Chinese which had clearly startled her kwami companion. After that Fu had spent the entire rest of the meeting distracted by taking photographs of the entire book and stressing the importance of getting it back to Adrien with as little suspicion as possible.

No one had bothered to fill Marinette in on why any of this was so important, instead asking her to come back in a week once they had had a chance to examine the photos.

Tikki had been apologetic, but had insisted that there was nothing that Marinette should worry about and it would all be revealed in time. After about 20 minutes of fruitless fighting with her kwami Marinette had given up and began making her way to Adrien's in the hopes that the rest of her evening would prove to be more eventful.

Soon enough she could see the impressive mansion looming in the distance.

What must it be like to live someplace like that? Marinette thought idly. The house was certainly impressive, but the walls and gates made the entire area seem closed off an uninviting. She knew from experience that the place was literally a fortress, and she could only imagine how difficult it must be for Adrien to feel locked away every day, no matter how grand the place was.

Marinette check her watch. 10 minutes to 5. Was that too early for her to ring the buzzer? She could vividly remember the creepy robot eye that shot out at her last time she had come to the gate to drop off Adrien's birthday present. Maybe she should wait a few more minutes and hope that Adrien came out into the courtyard to fetch everyone.

"Gattina!"

Oh no. Marinette thought miserably. She should have known that Adrien would invite Lila. She sighed as the fashionably dressed girl barreled over and enthusiastically greeted her with twin kisses on the cheek.

"Oh Mari, I wasn't expecting to see you here so early." She giggled conspiratorially "although I suppose it's not really all that surprising is it."

"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked. After all yes she might be here a few minutes before 5 but she was hardly that early. Not enough for it to seem strange right? After all clearly Lila had gotten here early as well.

"Oh come on now Dolcezza, it's painfully obvious that you are infatuated with a certain someone." Lila cooed, pointed looking from Marinette to the mansion and back again.

Uh oh.

Marinette felt the color draining from her face. As much as she was irritated with Lila's cloying friendship it was better than once again having the girl as an enemy. Maybe she could play it off that she was hoping to catch Gabriel Agreste at the home office to beg him for an internship. No that would just make her seem even more insane.  
"Oh Mari, don't look at me like that!" Lila laughed indulgently patting Marinette lightly on the shoulder. "I'm not upset with you, in fact I think it's adorable! You blush and stammer and try so hard to make him happy, it's one of the many things I love about you." She reached up and ruffled the top of Marinette hair with the sort of affection on usually bestows upon a well-loved pet.

Marinette let out a small sigh. Lila may be pushy and condescending but in her own way she seemed to be attempting to be genuinely friendly.

"Now don't get me wrong, I am not so generous that I am just going to step aside and let you have all the fun." Lila pressed on with a wink, "after all, our mutual friend is very, very pretty no?" She laughed again as Marinette's face darkened to a brilliant scarlet. "But boys should never get in the way of friendships, and I know you would never try to keep me away altogether, unlike that rotten lovestruck excuse for a superhero, so I will not cry if you manage to catch him, and I won't do anything to make him think ill of you either."

Marinette was oddly touched by Lila's bizarre sincerity. Hatred of Ladybug aside, she certainly seemed to be making an effort to be likable. For the first time in the past week Marinette began to wonder if maybe Adrien had been right to insist that people give Lila a chance. Maybe she just didn't know how to behave and developing real friendships would bring out a better side of her.

"Thank you Lila," Marinette smiled, "That's… well that's really nice of you." She could do this, she could suck it up and be a good person and maybe even a good friend to this strange whirlwind of a girl.

"Besides," Lila's grin widened into a knowing, devilish smile "even if he does chose one of us we are friends now, and friends always share, don't they."

Marinette cheeks burned. Nope. Nope nope nope. She took it all back, Lila was clearly insane and not to be trusted around poor, innocent, naïve Adrien.

"Come on!" Lila, grabbed Marinette by the arm pulling her along with enough force to cause her to stumble as she pranced up to the buzzer on Adrien's gate.

…

Marinette was certain that she was going to die of a heart attack when Adrien appeared at the front steps just a few moments after the gate had swung open to allow them inside.

She was used to seeing Adrien in all manner of stylish, high end designer clothing that accented his already gorgeous figure. This was hardly surprising seeing as how every item in his closet was probably hand selected and tailored by his father and his vast army of employees and interns. However, most of the clothes that Adrien preferred to wear to school were subdued and conservative.

Today's look, however, Marinette would probably have described as deceptively casual.

His usual light wash jeans had been replaced with black embroidered denim tucked into a pair of lace-up fashion Combat boots. The top comprised of a fitted black and grey fleur de lis patterened tee shirt that she vaguely recalled from last year's winter line and a black and forest green accented hoodie rolled up at the sleeves revealing her charm bracelet circling his wrist.

It was like Chat Noir and Gabriel Agreste had sat down together and designed the perfect ensemble to short circuit her brain.

How did the boy manage to become MORE attractive every time she saw him? It just wasn't fair. This was even worse that yesterday's fantasies about Adrien in a cat suit, because while black was defiantly his color, this outfit made him look relaxed, comfortable, and accessible. She could imagine how the expensive material would feel against her fingers, how the soft cotton would bunch as she ran her hands under the fabric to explore the plains of his back. It was the sort of outfit she could imagine strewn across her bedroom floor.

"Careful, you're drooling." Lila whispered to her as Adrien leapt down the stairs and rushed over to where they had paused just inside the gate.

"Hey Marinette!" He grinned at her, his smile lighting his face and causing her insides to churn. He gave a small start as Lila let out a small delicate cough. "Lila, hey. I'm sorry I didn't see you. Did you two come together then?" His smile was still perfectly locked in place but Marinette though that she saw a flicked of disappointment in his eyes as he looked back and forth between the two girls.

No, she had to be imagining things. Why would Adrien be disappointed? It wasn't like he had been plotting ways to get her alone.

"No, Mari and I just ran into each other on the way over." Lila supplied, stepping forward to loop her arm through Adrien's. "I am so sorry that we are this early though, my parents had a charity event this evening so it was just easier for me to get dropped off now instead of 5:30. I hope you don't mind." She batter her eyes at Adrien, her expression one of complete contrition.

"Of course it's fine." Adrien said warmly, having shrugged off whatever irritation had colored his features moments ago. Maybe it had just been her imagination.

"Wait." Marinette stated, "5:30? I thought we were all meeting at 5?" Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that she must finally look like the stalker she was.

Adrien's face exploded into a charming shade of pink. "I guess I must have told you wrong time." He gave her a sidelong glance and then immediately looked away again, his cheeks flushing even darker.

OK this time she definitely hadn't imagined anything. Was Adrien... was he flirting with her?

"Anyways, everything's all set up so you guys can come on inside." He said jovially.

He offered his free arm to her, Lila clearly had no intention of letting go of the limb she had already attached herself to, and Marinette linked her own through, forcing herself not to squeal as she place her other hand atop his perfectly tanned forearm. With as much courage as she could muster she looked up into his stunning green eyes and smiled.

His returning grin would haunt her dreams for days to come, she just knew it.

Together the trio climbed the stairs to the mansion.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're room is incredible Adrien." Lila gushed. "I didn't get a chance to really take it all in the last time I was here."

Well that's what happens when you are too busy lying about being a superhero and getting turned into an akuma, Marinette thought grumpily. At least the girl had finally released Adrien from her barnacle like grip in order to explore the oversized room.

"What do you think Mari?" Adrien asked quietly from beside her. She almost jumped out of her skin. He was calling her Mari. Adrien Agreste had given her a nickname. She turned to smile at him and once again felt her mouth go dry. He was looking at her with that same playful expression he had been wearing yesterday afternoon and it was setting off more butterflies that Papillion.

"Think of what?" She asked distractedly. Adrien's grin widened further enhancing his Chat like ensemble. Would it be terrible of her to ask her partner to take a day or two off so she could talk Adrien into being a substitute hero for a bit? She had a feeling that the (honestly unnecessary) patrols would be a lot more entertaining if she had this particular blond in toe, although she was pretty sure she would be doing a lot less heroics and a lot more ogling.

"What do you think of the room?" He said. "Most people are a little intimidated if they haven't been here before." He was raising an eyebrow at her and his expression was entirely too knowing for her.

"Oh! Right! And you want to know what I think because I haven't been here before, because of COURSE I haven't been here before, why would I have? It's not like I make a habit of visiting your bedroom…" Her eyes widened as she clamped her mouth shut in horror. Why, why could she not behave like a reasonable person around him?

Adrien laughed softly, pulling her into the room and escorting her over to the pristine white couch where he had the gaming consul and a slew of controllers set up.

"The room's lovely." She finally croaked out, looking around the space that she had already committed to memory from her trips as Ladybug. She pointed avoided looking in the direction of his ensuite bathroom for fear that she would spontaneously combust from the memories.

"Is Mr. Agreste around?" Marinette asked nervously settling down on the couch, depositing her bags at her feet. As much as she idolized the fashion icon she was in no hurry to have another encounter with the intimidating man and his calculating looks under the current circumstances. Ideally she wouldn't have to deal with him in person until she and Adrien were safely engaged by the age of 20 and he was happily welcoming her into the family as the future Mrs Agreste and well-deserved heir to her very own fashion empire.

"No. My father's out of town for two weeks. He left Monday night actually, some sort of crisis involving an 'incompetent coordinator who shouldn't be allowed to run a fry stand much less a fashion show.' His words not mine." Adrien plopped down on the couch next to her and sprawled out comfortably, his arms draped across the back cushions, his hand hovering temptingly close to her sleeveless shoulder. If she just leaned back a few inches she would be able to feel his fingertips brushing against her skin.

"I'm surprised he's letting you have people over while he's away." Especially seeing as Marinette was fairly certain that Gabriel Agreste had never let Adrien have anyone over even when he was HERE.

"The last couple of akuma attacks kind of shook him up." Adrien said his face taking on a more serious expression. "Right now I think he just wants to make sure I stay inside the house, and if that means letting me have friends over then so be it."

"Well it's nice that we will all get to spend some time together." Marinette said brightly, hoping to steer the conversation away from what was obviously a touchy subject.

Adrien smiled at her, his eyes full of gratitude at her understanding. "Yeah, it's always nice to spend time with people you care about."

"Oh Adrien! That's so sweet!" Lila, having returned from her exploration of the room, bounced onto the couch on Adrien's other side, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

Marinette marveled at Adrien's unwavering tolerance for scheming women invading his personal space, as he awkwardly patted Lila on the back with a somewhat pained expression on his face. Then again having grown up with Chloe the poor boy might just assume that this was par for the course for teenage girls.

To her credit, Lila broke the embrace after only a few moments shifting back on the couch so that she was still close to, but not touching Adrien, causing him to visibly relax.

Marinette realized with a burst of dismayed admiration that Lila was craftier than she had realized. If she had sat down that closely next to Adrien initially he most likely would have shifted away. While he was tolerant of a good amount of unwanted affection he was still fairly shy and reserved, extracting himself from physical contact or any sort of PDA as soon as it was polite to do so. However, by initially overstepping her boundaries but then backing off Lila had suddenly made a fairly intimate positioning seem comfortably innocent.

That cunning little fox! Marinette thought, only half hearing Adrien's response to Lila's inquiry about the fashion show his father was currently attending.

Well, two could play at that game! And Lila had said she was prepared for some competition.

Ignoring her nerves, Marinette leaned forward and rolled her shoulders, stretching her arms and letting out a soft wordless hum as though she were trying to dislodge an uncomfortable knot from her back.

She could feel Adrien's eyes on her as his words trailed off, but she kept her gaze forward, feigning ignorance as she shifted herself slightly towards the center of the couch.

"Ah, that's better." She said lightly, still pretending to be lost in her own thoughts. Smiling to herself she leaned heavily into the couch, her unbalanced weight shifting her a few inches over as well as further back than she had originally been seated, her shoulders landing squarely against Adrien's outstretched arm.

She cocked her head to the side and looked innocently up at her enthralled crush, as if she was completely unaware of the fact that his fingers were now tentatively tracing patterns against her upper arm.

There was no blush this time, and Adrien's features were schooled into a perfect relaxed model smile. But Marinette had made an artform out of memorizing the facial expressions of one Adrien Agreste, and she could see that his pupils were dilated and glossy, and even though his breathing was measured and steady, he swallowed thickly. Underneath his cool, pleasant exterior, the boy was definitely bothered.

Score one, Marinette.

In her periphery she could see Lila watching as well, most likely picking up on some of the same subtle details.

Lila focused her gaze directly on Marinette with a congratulatory smirk at a move well played. Never one to be outdone, Lila turned in towards Adrien and stretched her arms over her head with a light, and most likely fake, yawn, arching her back and drawing attention to her low cut v-neck top.

Adrien's fingers froze against Marinette's skin and she could see the tips of his ears burning as he hastily snapped his gaze away from Lila's posturing.

Heh. Nice try, Marinette thought, but Adrien is far too well-bred to fall for that one.

"So." Adrien coughed his gaze fixated on the large bay windows. "What should we do while we wait for everyone else?"

"This is nice." Marinette replied lightly, leaning in a little further to rest her head casually against his shoulder. "Just hanging out and talking I mean."

Her heart soared as she felt him relax against her, clearly much more comfortable with her familiar presence than Lila's more flamboyant overtures. His fingers resumed their unconscious touches.

She smiled. Score two Marinette. Your move Lila.

"Oh I agree." Lila murmured, tucking her legs up onto the couch and mirroring Marinette's action so that her head was similarly resting on the apprehensive model between them. "After all," she batted her eyelashes becomingly, "what else would you want to do with two pretty girls while alone in your bedroom?"

And Lila's back in the game.

Adrien's hand clenched around Marinette's shoulder in a vice grip eliciting a small squeak, as all pretense of calm vanished from his expression. His slack jawed gaze ping ponged between the two girls, eyes wide with equal parts genuine terror and undisguised teenage lust.

Terror won out.

"I forgot to order food! Be right back!" Adrien yelped, as he literally vaulted himself over the back of the couch and scrambled from the room as quickly as possible, causing both girls to topple over into the empty space he had been occupying. Marinette thought she heard the sound of a faint snicker from somewhere above them, but whatever she though she heard was drown out by Lila's throaty giggle.

"Well this is fun!" Lila grinned, righting herself and giving Marinette an assessing once over. "Honestly Marinette I am impressed! I wasn't sure you had it in you." She tilted her head and smiled thoughtfully. "You are much more devious then I would have suspected. I knew we were going to be great friends!"

"I can't believe you said that." Marinette groaned, still slumped where she had fallen onto the couch.

"Oh come on, you are enjoying this just as much as I am admit it." Lila scoffed. "Besides it's clearly not doing you any harm to be taking a page out of my book."

"The Book!" Marinette started, swinging herself up and darting forward to grab her bag. This was the perfect opportunity to rid herself of the stupid thing without having to come up with any sort of convoluted explanation.

She had already pulled the book out of her bag and was debating where to stash it when she remembered that Lila was still there with her. She turned guiltily towards the other girl who was staring at the book in her hands with a shocked expression.

"Where did you get that?" Lila asked suspiciously.

Marinette didn't bother to try and act natural, instead she hoped that her guilty aura would help sell a different story.

"I uh," she began, "I found it in the park the other day. I had seen Adrien with it before and I figured he must have dropped it after that whole thing with Ladybug… and then you two ran off…" She trailed off, looking down at the floor meekly. She knew that she was making herself out to be the world's biggest stalker but it was better than Lila discovering the truth.

"Oh." Lila's look of suspicion had melted away into a guilty and unhappy look of her own. Marinette wondered if it was the first honest expression she had ever seen on the girl. "You saw all of that then?"

"Well, only some of it." Marinette said. It was technically true, she had missed large chunks of the conversation dealing with Tikki's book theft.

Lila took a deep breath and the venerable look dissolved back into her usual mischievous smile.

"You know Mari," she said sweetly, "why don't you let me give the book to Adrien? He had been showing it to me earlier in the library and I can just tell him he dropped it there. That way you don't have to worry about explaining how you found it."

Marinette wasn't sure if Lila was hoping to score points with Adrien by returning the book herself or if she was actually trying to be helpful. Either way, in this instance it was probably better to let the girl have the upper hand.

"Yeah that would be great, the whole thing was so embarrassing! I ended up tripping over a trashcan, I would hate to have to say anything!" Marinette said, hoping that she wasn't laying it on too think. She had never been that good of an actress. She handed the book over to Lila, whose smile had soften into a slightly pitying expression.

"Don't worry Gattina, it can be our little secret." She said, clutching the book to her chest.

Great, Marinette thought tiredly. Now we have secrets. She had a horrible sinking feeling that she had just sealed her fate in the form of this unexpected friendship.

She was saved from having to say anything by Adrien's reappearance. He had regained his usual composure, but she noticed that his hair was slightly damp. Either he had been splashing water on his face or the poor boy really did shower every time he was emotionally distraught.

God he was so adorable!

"So food will be up soon, and I expect that everyone else will be arriving any time now." He said pleasantly, pulling his desk chair across the room and sitting opposite the two girls.

Alright so maybe Lila had been a little right about it being fun. Marinette felt a giddy thrill knowing that perfect, desirable, supermodel Adrien had been undeniably flustered in no small part due to her. She would probably have some very uncomfortable mental images to scrub from her brain, but still.

"Oh Adrien," Lila sing-songed innocently, "I completely forgot, you dropped this the other day and I have been meaning to give it back to you." She held up the book to him.

Adrien leapt out of the chair and snatched it like it was a priceless artifact.

"Oh thank god!" He cried, then hunched embarrassed at his outburst. "Sorry, this is part of my father's private collection. I'm really not supposed to even take it out of the house."

Oh. Marinette thought surprised. Maybe it was a priceless artifact. Although what was a celebrated fashion designer doing with ancient Chinese manuscripts about magical superheroes? She would have to consult Tikki about this new information later.

Adrien quickly leafed through the book as if checking for any damage, and then let out a happy sigh of relief.

"I really should put this back in father's safe, sorry. I'll be right back."

And for the second time Adrien rushed out of the room leaving Marinette and Lila to themselves.

Lila winked conspiratorially at Marinette and leaned back into the couch. The two girls sat, contentedly staring out at the stunning view of Paris lost in their own thoughts.

This time when their host returned a few minutes later he was not alone.

Adrien was laughing at something Nino was showing him on his phone and Alya was taking in her surroundings with the same awed expression that everyone had upon entering the Agreste mansion for the first time.

As soon as Alya and Lila locked eyes their expressions melted into a look of combative distaste.

"Hey!" Nino said loudly before anyone else could say so much as a word, "Who wants to talk about anything other than Ladybug?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright! Now that we know who is playing I think that in the interest of fairness the strongest players should be paired with the weakest and so on." Max stated from his position standing on top of Adrien's coffee table.

Everyone who could make it had arrived and to say that there had been chaos as the class gleefully explored Adrien's massive room would be an understatement.

Mylene and Juleka had already camped themselves out on the upper floor library with no intention of even attempting to take on Ultimate Mecha Strike 4, Kim had almost broken his ankle falling from the climbing wall, and Adrien had confiscated Alix's rollerblades when she had almost crushed Rose while experimenting on the skate ramp.

"I've compiled a list of everyone's skill level so that we can determine proper teams." Max continued.

"Why can't we choose for ourselves?" Kim complained, "Let the weak fend for themselves!"

"I suppose you can if you really want to face off against Adrien and Marinette. I for one prefer to dream of a chance at victory." Nino shot back.

"Oh." Kim hesitated, glancing over at the pair of them, "Yeah I guess Max's way works." Then he suddenly grinned. "Well it looks like Marinette gets Alix!"

"Hey!" Alix spluttered indignantly.

"It's true." Max said knowingly. "You are objectively terrible at this game."

"You're objectively terrible at life." Alix muttered, her face flushing.

"Don't worry Alix. I but you we'll crush the whole lot of them." Marinette smiled kindly, coming to stand next to the short haired girl. Alix grinned.

"Don't I know it! After all my girl here can destroy the lot of you with one hand tied behind her back!" Alix crowed, slinging her arm around Marinette's shoulder.

"I resent that!" Adrien teased. "I will have you know that it take's both hands to defeat me!"

"I'm sure Marinette will be more than happy to test that theory." Kim said with a devilish smile. Prompting a series of spluttering giggles from several of the group and causing Marinette to turn a brilliant shade of red.

"Hey! No messing with my partner, she's no good to me if she dies of embarrassment." Alix scowled.

Marinette glanced over at Adrien to see his reaction to Kim's teasing euphemism but he seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Lila and Rose, and was thankfully oblivious.

"Lila," Max called, trying to get the crew of rowdy teens back on track. "I need to know your skill level so that I can add you into the rotation if you want to play."

Lila's eyes darted to Adrien for a split second before her features sank into a demure pout.

"I'm afraid I am not very good at this game. As much as I love video games I've never really gotten a chance to play this one and I don't know any of the rules." She said sadly, batting her eyelashes.

"Ok then, I guess that put's Lila with Adrien."

Marinette suppressed a growl as Lila latched onto Adrien's arm with a fiendish smile. There was no doubt in Marinette's mind that Lila was well aware of the rules of the game, she might even be a halfway decent player, she just wanted to be paired with Adrien.

Marinette took a deep breath and composed herself, taking comfort in the knowledge that she would never stoop so low as to pretend she was terrible at games just to attract a boy.

"Alya that means you're with me." Max continued.

"What! That means I'm third lowest!" Alya whined.

"Well you're entire game strategy is to presses all the buttons as hard as you can." Nino said begrudgingly, earning him a glare from his girlfriend.

"Well my button mashing will still kick your ass!"

"I'm just trying to help you babe!"

"TO CONTINUE!" Max shouted over the din, "Kim and Ivan will be the next set, and that leave Nino and Rose as the final pair."

Rose skipped over to Nino and the two fist bumped, while Ivan and Kim sized each other up in silence.

"So here's how the competition will proceed." Max said now that everyone was partnered up and listening. "Since we have an uneven number of teams, each round every team will face off against each other for one match! At the end of the round we will tally up who has the most losses and that team will be eliminated. If we have a tie for most losses then the two teams will do a head to head elimination battle!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and gathered around the large TV to begin the competition. Even Juleka and Mylene emerged to cheer on their respective partners.

Despite the large number of players, gameplay commenced quickly with only a single match between teams. It didn't take long before the crew of rowdy teens were shouting and cheering for respective enemies or allies, depending on who had already won or lost.

At the end of the first round, Ivan and Kim had been eliminated.

"I told you, we should have focused more on attacking instead of blocking." Kim complained, glaring at his partner.

Ivan simply grunted as his girlfriend complimented them both on a good effort.

At Juleka's suggestion the 4 non-players migrated over to Adrien's collection of Arcade machines to start up their own dance off contest.

"Wow, this is pretty brutal." Adrien said sliding up to Marinette and causing her to jump about a foot in the air.

"Yeah!" She stammered, mesmerized by the happy grin plastered across his face. "I'm really glad you invited us over Adrien." She breathed, delighting in her lack of stuttering.

"Well I was sort of… I mean to say…"

What was happening? Why was Adrien suttering? He never stuttered and certainly not around her.

"I like spending time with you Mari, and I was hoping that we could… I mean… if you want to… I would love to…"

"Adrien! We're up!" Lila interrupted, waiving Adrien over to the couch.

"OK just a sec!" He said.

Marinette figured that the moment, whatever it had been, was lost. But then suddenly she felt Adrien reach down and grab her hand delicately in his. She stared up at him, eyes wide in shock.

"Let's try to do this again with just us sometime, ok?" Adrien said softly.

Marinette nodded dumbly.

Adrien grinned at her and turned away to join Lila for the next round.

The entire second round was a blur for Marinette as she mechanically played her matches and cheered on her friends. Adrien's words clattered around her brain: _just us, just us, just us._

It barely even registered in her brain that Nino and Rose had gotten knocked out of the competition.

"We have reached the Final Round!" Max shouted ecstatically as he and Alya high-fived in triumph.

"I will never doubt your button mashing skills again." Nino said playfully, giving his girlfriend a light peck on the cheek.

"OK Marinette and Alix vs Adrien and Lila" Max called.

Marinette took her place on the couch next to Alix and forced herself to focus. They had won both of the last two matches against the pair though not by much.

Adrien and Lila took their places as well, Adrien grinning at his rivals and tossing them a jaunty two fingered salute.

Alix dragged her finger across her throat dramatically.

"Adrien." Lila singsonged with a sly smile, "Tu parli Italiano?"

"Un po, ma non ben." He replied turning to look at her with a curious expression.

Lila smiled and began speaking in very careful measured Italian. Adrien listened intently, nodding along and then bursting into a full on grin.

They began the round and instantly Marinette saw that they had come up with the perfect strategy. Adrien, who up to this point had always faced off against Marinette, turned his character's attention onto Alix while Lila acted as a distraction.

All of Marinette's earlier theories about Lila's knowledge of the game were proven correct as she faced off against her rival. It was no question that Marinette was the better player of the two but Lila knew how to block consistently while taking the least amount of damage. It was a slow play, keeping Marinette locked in a successful but time consuming battle against a weaker opponent while Adrien made short work of her unskilled partner. It wasn't a strategy that would work for more than a single round, and relied entirely on your opponent not having the time to plan an effective counter attack, but this was a single elimination battle.

It took less than a minute for Marinette to find herself double teamed by Adrien and Lila's characters, Alix already out of the game, and even with her skill she knew she was a goner.

The winning duo let out a twin chorus of victory cheers as the health bar petered out to zero on Marinette's Ladybug robot.

Marinette almost appreciated the loss when as she watched Adrien burst into the most adorably pathetic victory dance she had ever seen, until he and Lila began exchanging rapid compliments in Italian.

She knew that she would be spending several hours on the phone with Alya tonight complaining about Lila the Liar.

"Alright Max lets do this!" Alya shouted, shoving Adrien and Lila out of the way and grabbing the controllers.

"Go team button mash!" Nino called from his place behind the couch, shooting Marinette a sheepish grin when she glared at her traitorous friend.

The rest of the class quickly divided up their loyalties between the two teams cheering and catcalling as the game counted down to the start of the match.

Both teams were surprisingly well matched, with Marinette exceeding Max in skill and Alya dominating Alix in sheer savagery. They had each won one of their previous battles against each other.

This time though Max was clearly taking a leaf from Lila's playbook, focusing on a much more defensive strategy so that Alya could help him take down Marinette once she had finished off Alix.

It was a brutal match. Alix was predictably the first to fall and Marinette managed to take out Max as she desperately fought against two opponents, but she had already suffered too much damage to her own health and watched in horror as her Ladybug took a final devastating blow from Alya's.

Alya screamed in triumph, vaulting off the back of the couch and diving onto her cheering boyfriend. Max extended his hand graciously to Marinette, thanking her for a good game, and she smile back at the courtesy.

"Don't worry Mari, we will avenge you." Adrien said, plopping down next to her on the couch and effective trapping her in the corner, her entire body pressed flush against his.

"Of course we will!" Lila agreed cheerfully, settling down on Adrien's other side as Alya worked her way back to her own place in the final showdown.

"You guys are going down now!" Alya crowed, adjusting her glasses and grabbing her controller.

Lila sniffed contemptuously as Alya selected the Ladybug character and turned to Adrien.

"Sei pronto?"

He nodded, both team mates pulling up the robotic cat, Adrien in black and Lila swapping colors for a dark gold.

"This is the final fight!" Max declaired selecting his own favored character, "Winner take all!"

The countdown began and the previously defeated players again chose sides.

Marinette, having reluctantly removed herself from Adrien's side in order to continue breathing, join Nino, Kim, Ivan and Mylene on the side of 'team button mash.' As guilty as she felt abandoning Adrien when he had so chivalrously vowed to avenge her downfall, she refused to support Lila the cheat.

Rose, Juleka and Alix gleefully cheered on team 'Kitty', the former two for its esthetic and Alix because she refused to side with Kim.

Sadly, there was no contest.

Marinette watched irritated as Lila showcased her true skill at the game, clearly unable to resist toying with Alya. She stayed largely on the defensive so to the unskilled player it could have seemed like luck, but Marinette could see the ease with which she ducked and avoided Alya's attacks, occasionally retaliating with small jabs and combos, as Adrien took on Max.

The boys were locked in a much more fair fight, but Max's very formulaic play style was too predictable and allowed Adrien to beat him down with a few choice combos. Once Max was out of the running it took seconds for Adrien to help Lila destroy Alya.

Adrien was thrilled, barely containing himself long enough to congratulated Alya and Max on a good game before starting in on another terrifyingly awful victory dance. Lila whooping in triumph as well jumped up on Adrien's back and the two lead an impromptu conga line with their three cheering supporters.

Max had taken the loss well and was already engrossed in conversation with Kim and Ivan over the subtle changes he had noticed in this edition as compared to Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, but Alya was seething.

"Is it just me or was she not nearly as good at this game 20 minutes ago." Alya hissed glaring at Lila who was still wrapped around Adrien's back as he laughed at something Alix was saying to him.

"Oh it's not just you." Marinette replied darkly, wondering how people would react if she stormed over and pulled Lila away by her hair.

"Don't sweat it guys it's just a game." Nino said lightly, although his worried tone belied his easygoing words.

"Yeah, a game she cheated at." Alya growled.

"I know." Nino sighed, not bothering to sugarcoat the situation "but if we make a fuss about it now who is it actually going to hurt?"

The three friend watch as Adrien (thankfully finally dislodging Lila from his shoulders) jogged over to join in the conversation with Max and the others, a boyish grin on his face as he gestured wildly to accentuate whatever point he was making.

Both girls deflated, neither willing to upset their friend over Lila's fibbing.

"Just don't expect me to like her." Alya sighed, leaning her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Nino smiled, giving her a quick peck on the forehead.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thanks for meeting me tonight Chaton."

"Of course My Lady. You know I would do anything for you." Chat grinned at her. "So what is it that's bothering you Bugaboo? Or were you just desperate for my company?"

Ladybug fidgeted as she stared out across the darkened skyline of Paris not really knowing how to approach the situation.

The akuma this afternoon had been brutal, the hours long fight destroying what little was left of her already frazzled nerves. Between the stress of her pile of backlogged schoolwork, Chloe's constant attacks which had only increased in the past week, Adrien's growing attention which, while thrilling, was leaving her a panicked mess more often than not, and of course Alya and Lila… well… lets just say she needed an escape.

When Chat had asked her if everything was alright after she half-heartedly offered the customary fist bump at the end of the fight it had seemed like the perfect idea. Here was someone whom she loved and trusted, a great friend who she could spill her problems out to without having to worry about any major repercussions as long as she was careful to keep some of her rambling vague.

Chat had been beyond delighted when instead of simply running off before the timer counted down she had asked if they could meet up later to talk, and she had spent the rest of the afternoon looking forward to basking in the attention and comfort she knew her partner would more than happily bestow on her.

But now that they were here she didn't know how to begin. It seemed unfair to lay her civilian problems at her partner's door when she had always so actively barred him from that side of her life.

"Hey," Chat voice interrupted her reverie. "Talk to me bug."

"It's just stupid civilian stuff." She mutter, embarrassed by her own foolishness. Why had she thought this was a good idea again?

Without warning she found herself wrapped in a tight hug.

"Nothing that is important to you is stupid. I will always be here for you My Lady, whether you need help with a fire breathing akuma or just need to cry over a miserable Maths assignment."

She smiled and squeezed him back.

Oh yeah. This was why she thought it was a good idea.

Chat tugged them both down so that they were sitting on the roof of the small church they had chosen as tonight's meeting place, not breaking his embrace and nuzzling his nose into her hair.

Ladybug let out a small sigh and relaxed into this blissful affection. Her partner really did give the best hugs.

"So what has got My Lady so wound up?" Chat asked gently.

"Have you ever just felt overwhelmed by everything going on around you? Like there is just too much happening and you can't deal with it all at once but life just won't stop throwing things at you?"

"It's a feeling I have some familiarity with yes."

"Well that's what's happening to me, and I am just worried that I am going to snap and do something that I regret or that I can't take back. And the worst part is I can't really talk to anyone about it so it's just pilling up."

Chat gave her an oddly probing look before asking cautiously, "Why can't you talk to your friends about any of it? I know beyond any doubt that you have friends."

"Yes I have friends." She rolled her eyes but was touched all the same that Chat so adamantly believed that she wasn't some kind of unpopular social pariah. "But they are also kind of the problem. If I talk to them it might just make things worse."

"Ah. I see."

"Plus even if I WANTED to try to talk to any of them it is almost impossible to do with my stalking attached to my hip."

"You're stalker?"

"There is a new girl at my school who has decided that I am her new best friend."

"And I take it you don't feel the same way?"

"I don't know what to do with her! She is a total liar and you know how I feel about that. Plus, I know that she only started talking to me in the first place to get close to a boy she likes. But sometimes she actually seems like she is trying to be legitimately nice to me and then I just get confused!"

Chat looked like he was fighting back a smile. "That does sound complicated."

"And she HATES Ladybug. Which is awkward enough for me obviously, but it's worse because MY best friend is a huge fan and so the two of them are feuding and trying to drag me into the middle of it. The past two days at school have been an absolute nightmare."

"I can imagine how that would get a little tiring. They probably keep asking you for your opinions and get upset when you don't really commit to either side." Chat said with an amused gleam in his eyes.

"Exactly! That is exactly what they are doing and it's exhausting."

"My poor bugaboo." Chat laughed, squeezing her again and rubbing comforting circles against her back.

"Plus my crush is acting totally strange and I can't even get my best friend to talk to me about it because she is too busy feuding with Li—Liar girl." Ladybug swallowed. That had been a close one.

It took a few moments for her to realize that Chat's hands had stilled and that he had good ridged beneath her.

"You… your crush?" Chat said quietly, his tone carefully neutral.

Ladybug flushed, sitting up and pulling away from her partner. She was the most insensitive friend on the planet. "Yeah… I am sorry I shouldn't have said…"

"It's ok. You need to talk so whatever you want to talk about," he swallowed thickly, sitting forward to stare out across the skyline. "It's fine. So, My Lady has a crush on someone?"

"Yeah, a boy at my school." She admitted softly. "We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

"I told you whatever you need. We can talk about you're probably undeserving, not nearly as handsome as me lover-boy." He said with a dramatic sigh turning to look at her.

She snorted at his antics and he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"I even promise not to get too jealous." He looked thoughtful for a second before flashing her a trademark grin. "Well, so long as you tell me that he is a witty, intelligent, millionaire supermodel who will always treat you like the princess you are."

Ladybug laughed. "That's actually a pretty accurate description."

"Wait, what?"

"Although witty might be giving him too much credit, some of his jokes are as bad as yours. We got assigned to do a project together, well we are in the same group, and last two days he has been making non-stop history puns."

"Hi… history puns?"

Yeah, if you can believe that."

"Oh… I think I can believe it." Chat said haltingly. She looked up at him and was startled to see that his face was flaming and his eyes blown wide as he gaped down at her.

"Chat are you ok?"

"YES! I am fine I am great, everything great, fine… Sotellmemoreaboutthiscrushofyours!"

"You sure you're ok?"

"I'm super!" He squeaked, then coughed as if that would someone blot out the high pitched sound. "So." He said in a more normal tone. "Your crush is working on a project with you, in class because he is in your class, and telling you terrible history puns, because YOUR CRUSH is in your project group."

"Yeah…"

"So wouldn't that be a good thing? I mean I know I would be delighted to get put in a group with you My Lady. I would probably spend the whole time trying to make you laugh."

"Oh god, I don't think I could handle adding your humor into the mix, Adrien is bad enough." Ladybug muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Chat let out a loud strangled laugh. "Right!"

"I mean it would be fine if it was just him. I mean aside from my usual stammering and blushing."

"Wait, so that's why…" Chat slammed his mouth shut.

"What?"

"Nothing! Please continue!" He said with a manic grin.

"Anyways…" Ladybug went on giving her partner a concerned stare. "The problem is my best friend and the stalker are in my group too."

"And they won't stop fighting." Chat said knowingly, his voice finally having returned to normal.

"Exactly." Ladybug said. "And you know how I said my stalker only got close to me because of a boy?"

"She like's your crush."

"Yes. And she keeps flirting with him. In ITALIAN no less. I mean, seriously who speaks Italian."

"Io parlo un po 'italiano."

"SERIOUS? You too?" Ladybug glowered at her partner who laughed at her ferocious glare. "How many languages do you speak?"

"Five."

"Wait, really?"

"Well, only 3 fluently, I am only conversational in German and Italian since most of the time everyone will default to English."

"Oh."

"So you don't like them talking in Italian?"

"It's not talking it's flirting! She flirts with him shamelessly. It's like she has to be the center of attention all the time."

"Maybe she just is insecure?"

"I've thought of that, and maybe that is part of it, so I will try to be nice and patient but then she will just say something awful and I am right back to square one! Like the other day she confronted me about my crush right? I was expecting her to be really competitive and turn on me but she was actually really nice about it and said that she would be happy for me if he liked me back."

"See maybe she does just want friends."

"Then she turned around and said that we could just share him."

"WHAT?"

"I know right? Who just says things like that? And she keeps dropping comments like that all the time! The other day at lunch she was joking about how if we teamed up we could cure him of his Ladybug obsession."

"I doubt that would work on so many levels. No man in his right mind would get over you bugaboo, no matter what identity."

"Aw, thanks." She smiled gratefully up at her partner.

"I mean if you were interested in experimenting he might not say no."

"Chat…"

"I'm just saying as a fellow teenage boy there are worse fates."

"Chat."

"I mean it's no two Ladybugs but still."

"CHAT!" She wacked him playfully upside the back of the head, but she couldn't resist laughing and at the dreamy expression plastered all over his face at the memory.

"Ah Chronogirl. Still probably my favorite Akuma."

"She was one of the worst for me." Ladybug said darkly.

"Why so?" Chat asked curiously.

She looked at her partner, all big smiles and unwavering loyalty and tried to imagine a life without him. "You don't remember the first timeline." She said quietly, reaching out and grabbing his hand in hers.

"Yeah that happens to me more than I'd like to admit." Chat grumbled. "Makes me miss out on all kinds of fun things." He gave her a very pointed look.

"Are you still bitter about that kiss?"

"I will be bitter about that until the day I die My Lady." He swooned dramatically. "Unless of course," he fixed her with a flirtatious grin, "you want to give me something else to dream about instead."

"Keep dreaming kitty." She said fondly, leaning towards him to rest her head against his shoulder.

"Bet on it bugaboo."

She laughed lightly and closed her eyes. She had needed this.

"Hey Ladybug?"

"Yes Chat?"

She could feel him fidgeting beside her.

"Hypothetically if I figured out your identity, not on purpose or anything just like, if I ever happened to have a pretty good feeling about it, would that be a problem?"

She opened her eyes and stared out at the city, still not lifting her head from its comfortable position against her partner.

"I always thought so. I mean we are supposed to keep our identities a secret for safety and so on, but… I don't know, I guess it doesn't seem as bad anymore. I trust you." She tilted her head to look up at the nervous cat. "In a way I think it might be nice. Because if you knew who I was then it means that you saw me, you know? Its hard sometimes being surrounded by people who talk about all the great things that Ladybug does and no one looks at me, normal me I mean, and goes- hey! You could be her!"

She let out a small humorless laugh. "To be fair I am not very graceful in my everyday life as I am while transformed."

"Maybe, but you are just as beautiful." Chat said, not in his usual flirtatious purr but in a tone of such raw certainty that she found herself flushing as dark as her suit.

"How about you kitty? Are you any different without your ears?" She inquired, desperate to deflect his too sincere compliments and slow her racing pulse.

Chat was thoughtful for a moment. "I'm quieter. Not all the time, but in general I tend to keep my thoughts to myself. I'm not terribly comfortable in social situations and I have to be more guarded about how people perceive me when I can't just disappear into the night."

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense." She replied softly.

"Although I am even more handsome without the suit. You would be speechless my Lady." He grinned, nudging her with his shoulder.

"You keep saying that but I don't buy it for a second."

"Want me to detransform and prove it to you?"

"No." She smiled. "Besides is that how you want me to learn who you are? Detransforming on a church roof just to be proven wrong?"

"Meowch." Chat sulked, but she could hear the hint of laughter in his voice as he dropped his head on top of hers.

"I think you're right." He said after a few minutes of companionable silence. "I want you to see me."

She hummed, relaxed into a pleasant drowsy state. "I feel like you would be pretty hard to miss Chaton."

He laughed again the quiet sound mingling with the soothing noises of the night.

"You'd be surprised." He murmured a short time later, laying a soft kiss into the hair of his snoring partner.


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette braced herself as she prepared to walk into the classroom on Wednesday morning. Her evening with Chat had done wonders for her frazzled nerves and she was determined that she would NOT let herself fall back into the emotional mess that she had been for the last week and a half. She was well rested, content, and ready to put an end to her constant worry. She was Ladybug! She faced off against dangerous monsters and super villains on a regular basis! She could handle some feuding friends.

She squared her shoulders and pushed open the door to the class.

"You take that back you ignorant hussy!"

"Never!"

Marinette's jaw dropped as she stared at the uncomfortable scene before her. Alya had practically climbed on top of her desk so that she could scream at Lila seated two rows back next to a cowering Nathanael.

"How dare you!" Alya growled between gritted teeth. "You irritating, conniving little…"

"What the hell is going on?" Marinette whispered, slipping down into Adrien's vacent seat and leaning over to Nino who had his head buried in his hands in defeat.

Wordlessly Nino pointed to a large sign taped to the chalkboard.

 _Monday, in honor of our heroes who so bravely continue to protect our city, we will be holding a super hero appreciation day. Students are invited to come to class dressed as their favorite hero. Classes will be dismissed early so that students can attend the city sponsored festival from 12-6pm._

"Oh no…"

"Ivan already had to physically separate them earlier." Nino groaned, as behind them Alya and Lila continued to hurl insults at each other.

"What set them off this time?" Marinette asked.

"It's my fault," Nino said finally sitting up, "I got excited by the lack of actual school and said I needed to text Adrien since he has a shoot today…"

Marinette nodded in understanding. Without Adrien around, Lila wouldn't have been able to resist letting her true thoughts on Ladybug show.

"You just can't accept that your precious little heroine is just a selfish, spiteful cow!" Lila shrieked.

Alya surged forward only to be immediately caught by a weary looking Ivan.

"She didn't make you a liar! She didn't ask you to brag about being famous! She didn't akumatize you and convince you to try and trick the city into thinking you were an actual superhero. You did that to yourself." Alya spat.

"She humiliated me in front of Adrien, did you know that? She deliberately went out of her way to embarrass and destroy me in front of the boy I liked."

"Oh please, you had just met him that afternoon. What was it you liked best, that he was pretty or rich?"

"Alya," Nino scolded gently.

"Oh like she is any better! Posturing and strutting around like she owns him! Some starstruck fangirl who thinks she is entitled to a celebrity boyfriend just because she has super powers. They've probably never even met! Yet she acts like he's her boyfriend or something! You've seen the videos, she was ready to give up everything just to save her crush. Would have too if Chat Noir hadn't stopped Volpina."

"You mean you!"

"Alya babe, chill. We've all been there, ok?" Nino pleaded. "What you do when you are akumatized doesn't count, you know that. Heck, most of us would be in jail if it did."

"Yeah but most of us aren't lying ungrateful brats, and she was lying to everyone even before she got turned into an akuma. She is probably making up this whole confrontation with Ladybug anyways, awfully convenient that she waits to bring this up when Adrien isn't around to confirm her story."

Oh no, Marinette thought, the blood draining from her face as Lila's eyes lit up with a triumphant gleam.

"Marinette saw the whole thing," Lila said, her angry countenance morphing into a predatory smile as every head in the classroom turned to gaze at the horrified girl.

"Mari?" Alya asked, her own expression one of shocked disbelief.

"Lila isn't lying," Marinette said softly, unable to meet Alya's eye.

She heard several gasps and murmurs from her classmates and tried to slouch even further down into her seat.

The shame and humiliation that Marinette had felt on the day of Lila's akumatization was nothing compared to this. At least then only Chat had been around to judge her for her selfish behavior. Well, and Adrien. But Adrien was forgiving to a fault and Chat… Chat for all his idolization of her had never expected her to be the perfect hero that Paris proclaimed her to be. He had always been willing to call her out when she did something stupid, and never seemed let down or betrayed by her faults.

Now she could feel the sense of shock and disappointment radiating off of her classmates as the perfect image of their idol was tarnished.

Marinette wondered if this was what it was like for the akuma victims after the battle was over. The sense that your own frailty and weakness was exposed for the world to see, and that no one would ever look at you the same way again.

The silence was defining as everyone is the class waited for someone to speak, for something to dissolve the tension or push it past the breaking point.

Nino cleared his throat and stood.

"Ok let's all just sit back and get ready for class before Ms. Bustier gets here. There's no reason for any of us to be fighting over any of this stuff. Everyone makes mistakes. I think that's something that has become pretty obvious in this town nowadays. So let's just move on from this whole thing and agree to disagree, ok?"

"What do you say Alya?" Lila asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Alya said nothing, her bottom lip clenched between her teeth as she glared at the Italian girl, clearly debating how she was going to react.

"I say," a drawling voice cut through the silence, "Brava Ladybug. It's good to know that someone other than me is willing to save poor Adrikins from his stalkers. It's hardly her fault that you're a little crybaby who can't handle rejection from your betters."

"Oh like you're one to talk!" Kim shouted leaping out of his seat and glower down at Chloe.

And just like that the entire room erupted into chaos.


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien eagerly bounded out of the car on Thursday morning, ready for a quiet day of normalcy.

The shoot the day before had been an endless parade of drama- in no small part due to the fact that his father, who had returned home early from his trip to Brussels, had chosen to supervise in person for a change.

On the one hand it had been kinda nice. He had spent more time in his father's company yesterday that in the last 4 months combined. They had even gone out to lunch together and attempted to have normal conversation. It was hard to say how successful they were. The long interaction, while appreciated, mostly just served to highlight how strained and distant their relationship had become. Adrien had choked on his salad when his father had haltingly asked him if he had 'formed an attachment to any of the young ladies in his class.'

The shoot itself had been fairly boring for Adrien, as Gabriel was largely uncritical of the models. But there had been hours upon hours of just sitting and waiting while his father berated and adjusted everything from the lighting to the hemlines. At one point there had been a two hour delay because the roses for the background of the formalwear spread were the wrong shade of pink. Given that the outfits for that shot were exclusively black and white Adrien didn't really see the problem. It wasn't like they would clash. But if Gabriel Agreste says that roses must be Cerise and not Coral then woe befall anyone who didn't immediately fall in line.

One good thing had come of the entire fiasco. Adrien had managed over the course of the 12 hours he was trapped in the studio to put in a request for a custom piece from one of his father's current interns. The idea had been impossible to resist when he had gotten Nino's text that morning, and of course the hopeful university student was more than happy to curry favor with the boss' son.

Compounding to his boredom was the fact that none of his friends were texting him. Alya had never responded to the text he sent her around noon asking if she was working on any good editorials for the Ladyblog. Chloe had been suspiciously quite, only sending 2 texts all day saying that his presence was sorely missed in the classroom as opposed to her usual 30. Even Nino, who was never one to avoid an opportunity to do something other than pay attention in class, had barely said anything after his initial burst of excitement that morning over the upcoming Superhero appreciation day. Around 3:00 he had sent Adrien a text to inform him that he was now ' _the treasurer of the official Chat Noir Fanclub- no you don't get a say in the matter just roll with it.'_ But his friend had refused to go into further detail, instead brushing it off with a quick ' _I'll fill you in tomorrow_.'

Adrien had considered messaging Marinette and trying to strike up a conversation. But even with the amazing new knowledge that she would be more than likely receptive to the idea because he was her crush- HER CRUSH!, it wasn't something that they had really done up to this point. Better to wait until tomorrow when they could interact in person. The last thing he wanted was for her to decide that he wasn't worth her time after all because he couldn't think of anything better to do then send her random cat emojis.

Now at last a new day had arrived, and already starting off on a very promising, if unsettling, foot.

His father had actually been waiting for him at breakfast for what might have been the first time in over a year.

Adrien had waited expectantly for his father to announce some sort of major event- an extended leave, Adrien himself getting dragged off to an international runway show, god forbid a new pile of restrictions to keep him from ever having a normal life to assuage his father's overprotective paranoia. However, the conversation never strayed past the general awkward pleasantries that one would expect on an average Thursday morning. A few times Adrien suspected that his father was attempting to broach a subject only to change his mind and instead ask to be passed the butter. Eventually Nathalie informed him that it was time to leave for school, his father wished him a good day without looking up from the paper he was perusing and that was the end of it. It was almost like they were a normal family for once.

Perhaps things really were finally going to change for the better. After all being a single parent was clearly not his father strong suit. The awkward hesitations could easily be explained by a lack of knowledge on what one says to one's semi-estranged teenaged child. Maybe the back to back experiences of Jackady and Volpina's attacks had inspired a new sense of priorities. The attack on the mansion had definitely left his father quite shaken, and Adrien had to admit that seeing the video footage of himself being dangled over the edge of the Eifel Tower (even knowing that it was an illusion and seeing himself in his Chat Noir persona in the same footage) was rather unnerving. His father had looked positively green when it first aired, and Adrien half suspected that his father's recent trip had more to do with his own emotional instability that any real fashion emergency.

Ultimately Adrien decided that it was best to just take his fathers unprecedented attention as a good sign, even if it did have him running a little late this morning.

He hurried to his classroom, ready to ask Nino what he had missed the day before.

He froze in the doorway as he took in the strange sight before him.

He blinked, shook his head, and looked again.

It wasn't his imagination.

An aura of angry tension hovered over his silent classmates, many of them glaring at each other from their new and unfamiliar positions.

Adrien cautiously stepped forward into the room. No one said anything as he dropped down into his usual and still vacant seat. He turned to the glowering figure beside him.

"What exactly is going on, and why are you in Nino's seat?"

"Oh, Adrikins!" Chloe said, plastering a sugary smile on her face as she took in his arrival. "Everyone's been reassigned seats for the week. Since you weren't here you get to stay put, which means we get to sit together isn't it great!"

"I was gone for one day!" Adrien spluttered. "What could have possibly happened in one day to prompt all this?" He gestured helplessly.

"Oh it was terrible Adrichou just terrible."

"Absolutely," Sabrina chimed in leaning forward from what should have been Alya's seat, "Ms Bustier couldn't even get the class under control for almost an hour. She had to send for Mr. Damocles and everything."

"Not that he had anything useful to contribute," Chloe huffed, "threatening to suspend everyone for the rest of the week. As if daddy would ever allow that to happen. Instead we've all been moved around until Monday. Not sure what they think it will accomplish, but at least we get to spend more time together." She glomped onto his arm and Adrien grimaced.

"I think," a timid voice sounded from behind him, "the idea was to encourage us to get along better by changing our usual routine and having us work with different people."

"God Mylene," Chloe scoffed, "are you really that naive? We got strategically placed to keep the troublemakers away from each other, duh. Ms Bustier doesn't care if we like each other so long as everyone stays quite. Hence why Cesaire and the faux fox bitch are as far apart as possible."

Adrien scanned the classroom, this time cataloguing everyone's new place. Sure enough, Lila was in Sabrina's old seat next to Max, while Alya was the opposite back corner. Although Alya's attention was surprisingly not fixed on her usual enemy. Instead she was glaring straight across the room past an anxious looking Rose and Juleka at…

"Ok Chloe I want to know everything that happened yesterday, right now."

"But Adrikin's you never like it when I gossip."

"I'm willing to make an exception."

Chloe's eyes lit up with excitement and she let out a small squeal, leaning in conspiratorially. Sabrina practically sprawled across her desk to join in the conversation and even the mild mannered Mylene scooted forward to listen.

"Well," Chloe began, "it was all Liar Liar's fault obviously."

"Lila," Sabrina clarified.

"She was whining all about how Ladybug was so awful and mean, blah blah blah. We'll Cesaire put her in her place of course. You know how much I hate to side with the blogger queen on anything, but at least she appreciates how much Ladybug does for this city."

"Totally," Sabrina added.

"Anyways," Chloe continued, "Liar-la basically starts crying-"

"There were actually tears!"

"-about how Ladybug tried to steal you away from her. As if you would ever be dumb enough to be interested in that."

"Yeah as if you would ever date her. But then she said-"

"Oh my God Sabrina stop trying to tell the story, you're bad at it!"

"Sorry Chloe."

"Anyways, as I was saying, so Cesaire is totally not falling for any of it and basically tells Liar-la that she could go jump off a cliff and no one would care, but then the brat goes into a huge sob story about how Ladybug totally called her out in front of you and how Marinette had seen the whole thing. Well everyone was totally shocked except for me of course because _of course_ you had been too nice to say anything about it Adrikins. And everyone couldn't believe that Ladybug had gotten involved. I wasn't surprised at all. Ladybug is a hero, of course she would save my best friend from getting taken in by a second rate floozy with anger management issues.

So of course I said as much, which then everyone completely overreacted to."

"Well Chloe, you did basically imply that anyone who has ever been an akuma victim brought it upon themselves, you can see where they might have gotten upset." Mylene said.

"Of course they brought it upon themselves, that's just fact. Not my fault that people can't deal with criticism."

"You know you have been akumatized too Chlo. Let's not start throwing stones." Adrien chided, earning a greatful smile from both Mylene and Sabrina.

"Yes I know," Chloe said airily, "and I still stand by what I said. Just because I'm not perfect all the time doesn't mean I have to suddenly pretend like everyone is an innocent victim. Anyways this is so not the point."

"So what is the point?" Adrien sighed, figuring that it wasn't worth trying to give Chloe another lecture on the finer points of basic human decency right now.

"The point is that everyone just went nuts and started screaming at each other, picking sides on all sorts of things. The brainless jock duo, their über-nerd sidekick and Picasso over there," she gestured vaguely at the other side of the room, "started throwing fits about victim tolerance or some stupid nonsense, honestly I've forgotten half of it, while Cesaire and I teamed up against the Italian invasion. DJ fanboy and president goodie two-shoes tried to get everyone to get along not that it did any good.

So anyways in the midst of the only argument that actually mattered, Cesaire ended up going off about how Ladybug has every right to call out people like fox face because she totally saves this city single handedly like 3 times a week and doesn't have time to play nice all the time. Well that didn't sit to well with DJ boyfriend because he immediately got super defensive about how Ladybug has a side kick."

"Chat Noir isn't a sidekick he's her partner," Adrien muttered.

"That's exactly what he said. And then he argued that without Chat Noir Ladybug would have probably died like a dozen times by now. Well Cesaire just lost it and started accusing him of siding with Liar face.

Apparently Headphones does have a spine, even if he still has no taste, because he and Cesaire began fighting about how just because she was defending Ladybug didn't give her the right to be a massive bitch who bosses everyone around."

"I highly doubt Nino said that."

"He might as well have. After about 20 minutes of the two of them screaming at each other he did throw in his lot with Liar Liar, mostly just to piss of his probably soon to be ex-girlfriend, and they started raving about forming some sort of Chat Noir fanclub thing while Marinette sobbed like a 2 year old for people to stop fighting."

"The whole thing was an absolute mess. Everyone started picking sides and fighting about things that didn't even have anything to do with what Lila had even said in the first place," Sabrina added.

"So now the loser couple isn't speaking to each other, half the class has decided to be taken in by a worthless skank, and as punishment we've all been relocated for the remainder of the week."

"Are you ok Adrien?" Mylene ask.

"Yeah," he reassured her, "I'm ok it's just a lot to take in."

A loud yelp startled him, and he turned around to see Marinette come crashing through the doorway and faceplanting onto his and Nino's- well his and Chloe's now- desk.

"Are you ok?" He ask, his face reddening as she gazed up at him with a look of absolute adoration. She liked him. She really liked him!

Before she could say anything the bell sounded and Marinette ran to her new seat beside Alix as Ms Bustier came in to begin the lesson.

"God she is such a spazz." Chloe complained, pulling up an online fashion magazine and preparing to ignore the lessons as usual.

Adrien ignored her, his gaze still trained on his Lady. He would have to try and talk to her as soon as possible. Maybe they could grab lunch together.

He tried to stay focused, to concentrate on the fact that they had bigger problems in light of the class feud. But as he half listened to his teacher drone on about history facts that he had long since memorized, all he could do was remember his conversation from the night before and try to repress a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

With only 5 minutes left until class ended for lunch Adrien needed to come up with a plan.

Chloe had already put away her tablet and was tapping her nails impatiently against the desk in a manner that usually preceded another attempt to latch on to him as soon as it was socially acceptable to do so. Meanwhile Lila had been trying to catch his attention all morning, though he had deliberately avoided her gaze. He was having enough trouble ridding his mind of the simultaneously disturbing and arousing mental images brought on by Ladybug's comments the other night about sharing, and the last thing he wanted to do was end up a flustered stammering mess in front of Lila. There was no way that wouldn't blow up in his face.

He had two choices- either rush out of the classroom as quickly as possible and hide in wait to catch Marinette without being ambushed himself, or go the direct approach and catch her at her desk before she or anyone else had a chance to move.

He could do it. Even when not transformed his reflexes were incredibly quick. He would just have to time it right.

2 minutes to go.

He began surreptitiously putting away his belongings. Leaving his things unattended at his desk would just be an invitation to hijack his time and attention.

1 minute.

He slid to the far side of his desk, ready to pounce.

He was on his feet and bounding up the steps the second the bell began to sound. He stopped next to Marinette's desk where she was obliviously gathering up her own supplies, took a deep breath and-

"Adrien! Thank God you're here today bro, please say we go out for lunch today."

Damn it.

…

40 minutes later Adrien listened halfheartedly to a second, and somewhat less dramatic, retelling of the previous day's drama while sandwiched between Nino and Lila at a nearby café.

He had tried to invite Marinette along to join them, but unfortunately she had been dragged off by a glowering Alya before she had even gotten a chance to reply.

It seemed that Chloe's assessment that the class had been split in two had been essentially accurate, although it seemed the larger issue for everyone except Nino was the question of whether or not the akuma victims should or could be held accountable for what they had done or said while transformed. Somehow Chat Noir had become the face of their movement- whether because it was easier to band together behind Nino against the terrifying alliance that was Alya and Chloe or because they felt that Chat would be sympathetic to their side due to his own multiple brain washings Adrien couldn't say.

"So anyways," Nino said, as Adrien tried to focus back in on the conversation, "we decided to form the official Chat Noir fanclub, because drama aside, people really don't appreciate that he does just as much for this city as Ladybug does."

Adrien couldn't stop the pleased smile and grateful blush that crept across his face. "Wow that's… that's really amazing Nino."

"I mean, I know it's not much but it's gotta be kinda rough for the poor guy," Nino added thoughtfully. "I mean you do all this work, running around saving the city, not to mention getting the living tar beaten out of you on a regular basis, and yet all the credit goes to your partner. It just doesn't seem right."

"Absolutely," Lila nodded emphatically, "he deserves to be loved just as much as Ladybug."

"I think Chat Noir will be touched that people think so highly of him," Adrien said quietly. "Maybe he doesn't need all the attention or the merchandise, but knowing that people like you guys appreciate him… I think it would make it all seem worth it."

"People like us you mean," Kim chimed in from his side of the table, "you're the treasure of this little club Agreste."

"Right," Adrien laughed, taking a long swig of water and hoping his embarrassment wasn't too obvious.

"So Max you said you could cover the website, Nathaniel do you think you could work with him on the layout? Maybe get some art or something for the page?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Kim, Alix, you two are in charge of merchandise and advertising. We need ideas for what sort of stuff we can put together to promote the cause and hopefully raise awareness and get others involved.

"Sure thing boss," Kim saluted to Nino. "Agreste we need 200 Euro for start up costs."

"What?"

"You're the treasurer fork over the dough," Kim said holding out his hand expectantly.

"You have got to be kidding me," Adrien muttered, but he still pulled out his wallet. It wasn't like he was spending any of his modeling income anyways. Besides it was extremely flattering to see his friends banded together in support of his alter ego. Who cared if the money ended up getting put to good use or not.

"Here," he said pulling out some bills, "you can have 100. That should be plenty for whatever you have in mind."

Alix leaned forward and snatched it out of his hand before Kim had a chance.

"Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't blow it all on something stupid," she grinned.

"Great," Nino said, making some more notes on his tablet. "I'll handle the rest of the social media accounts, which leave you two-" he glanced at Adrien and Lila- "in charge of content. Think you could manage to get something together by Sunday so that we can launch the site by then? Pictures, press clippings, maybe a basic write up or something?"

"I think I can handle the pictures," Adrien said trying not to smirk.

"It won't be a problem at all," Lila added. "Adrien, you and I could get together this weekend and work on it."

"Uh…" he shifted uncomfortably as Lila sidled up against him. He grabbed his water glass and took another drink to avoid answering her.

"You know, I am sure Mari would love to help too if she isn't being dragged around by her other friends," Lila said spitting out the last word like it was something foul, "she really likes Chat Noir too you know."

"Yeah," Adrien replied, unable to stop the lovesick smile from breaking out across his face as he thought again about just how much Marinette did in fact like him. Her crush, he was her crush!

He took another sip.

"Perhaps Mari could join us this weekend," Lila continued thoughtfully, "I will probably have the house to myself on Saturday and I am sure the three of us could come up with something exciting."

Adrien spat out his drink as his conversation with Ladybug sprang back into his mind.

"Dude are you ok?" Nino asked whacking him on the back.

"Yeah, fine," Adrien choked before yelping again when Lila tried to put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Wow way to spaz out Agreste," Kim laughed. "Anyways, if we got this all hashed out I say it's time go try to grab some gelato before heading back to class. Who's in?" he looked over at Max and Alix with a challenging gleam in his eyes.

Max Nathaniel and Alix all gave assorted affirmations and nods of approval, gathering up their things and getting ready to depart.

"How about you guys?" Nathaniel asked.

"I'm good," Nino said, "I think I am just gonna sit here and savor my coffee a bit longer."

"Maybe next time," Adrien smiled.

Max and Kim exchanged some hurried whispers.

"Hey, Lila," Max said startling the girl in question who had begun distractedly toying with the condiments on the table.

"Yes?" She asked, eyeing him questioningly, her shoulders hunching in a barely noticeable defensive gesture as she slid even closer to Adrien's side.

"Would you like to come with us? There was something we were hoping you might be able to help us with."

"Oh," she murmured eyes widening in genuine surprise, "I thought… I mean I guess I could…" she turned towards Adrien with an expression of such conflicted fear that couldn't help but take pity on the poor girl.

"Go on," he said softly giving her a gentle nudge in the shoulder, "have fun. We'll catch up with you guys in class."

Lila grinned at him, her brief moment of vulnerability once again masked by her usual confident expression as she gathered up her things and headed out with the rest of their classmates.

No matter what anyone else thought, Adrien couldn't regret his decision to try and help Lila find a place here. Underneath the swagger and witty cleverness was just another lonely child desperate for someone to love them. Maybe befriending Lila was making his life more complicated, but at this point Adrien had accepted that his life was never going to be the definition of normal anyways.

He shook his head ruefully and leaned back in his chair. Time to deal with the other elephant in the room.

"So," he asked cautiously, "how are things with you and Alya?"

Nino stared down at his coffee. "We screamed at each other for a good bit yesterday. I'm going to meet up with her on Friday to talk about it. Until then best to just give it some space."

"You don't think you guys are going to break up over this do you?"

"What? No, man, nothing like that," Nino said, looking at Adrien with a half amused half horrified expression, "at least not on my end. No it's just… I love Alya. And I think it's great how she gets so passionate about all this stuff. But she sometimes gets so caught up in her own beliefs that she doesn't care about how what she is doing or saying is effecting everyone else you know? Someone's got to stand up to her.

God knows Mari's not gonna do it. I mean they are my girls and all but those two are a pair of enablers if I ever saw them."

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.

"I mean they will support each other even when they really shouldn't. Like Marinette is always talking about how worried she gets about Alya rushing out after akumas, but she never tries to stop her either. And Alya… I mean she doesn't just not stop Mari's crazy schemes she helps plan half of them! I mean she helps Marinette steal your phone for crying out loud."

"Wait what?"

Nino flushed guiltily. "Pretend I didn't say that."

"What do you mean she helps Marinette steal my phone?"

"Nothing, there is no phone stealing happening that I know about and as your good friend would have been obligated to put a stop to instead of assisting in any way."

"Nino…" Adrien glowered at his friend.

"Ok, for reasons which I cannot fully explain Marinette may have needed access to your phone on a few occasions to save certain individuals some… embarrassing situations."

"Does this have something to do with Marinette's crush on me?" Adrien asked, throwing caution to the wind.

"Oh thank god you finally figured it out," Nino sighed slouching down against the table. "Do you have any idea how hard it's been not saying anything about it?"

"So it's true then. Marinette actually has a crush on me." Adrien grinned.

"Yeah, it's not like she's that great at keeping it a secret. You just happen to be the most oblivious person on the planet."

"So," Adrien hesitated, "If I asked her out you think she would say yes?"

Nino sat up and gave Adrien a long hard look. "You know," he said at last, "I think I finally believe in karma. It's a thing. I really need to start making more of an effort."

"Wha-"

"You finally realized that Marinette likes you back and Alya isn't here to appreciate the moment because she is too busy riding around on her Ladybug high horse. Yep. Karma's a bitch."


End file.
